Marjorie Gestring (1922 – 1992) was an American athlete who won numerous diving titles. In 1936, at the Olympic Games in Berlin, she became the youngest gold medalist at the age of 13.
The youngest athlete to win a gold medal
Marjorie was born on November 18, 1922 in the United States and it was very young that she embarked on the competition. In 1936, at age 13, she won her first major title at the Amateur Athletic Union in Chicago. The same year, she participated in the Berlin Olympics with the American team. After placing second in qualifying, her dive earned her the gold medal in front of a crowd of 15,000 spectators. She becomes the youngest athlete to win a gold medal.
Athletic career
After this victory, Marjorie Gestring won national and regional titles in 1937, 1938 and 1939. The 1940 Olympics did not take place, but Marjorie continued national competitions. A United States Olympic Committee awarded him a gold medal that year. In 1943, at age 19, she married Edward Carter, a student at the University of California. For the 1948 Olympics, she tries to qualify for the American team but just fails.
In 1976, she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. Marjorie Gestring died on April 20, 1992 at her home in California.